"Zero critical thinking or nuance; it was blindingly obvious why Carlos Alcaraz didn’t want to name who he watched on the WTA tour" - Mark Petchey
Former British tennis player Mark Petchey has jumped to Carlos Alcaraz's defense amid criticism for failing to name his favorite WTA player.
Alcaraz advanced to his maiden Australian Open quarterfinal with a commanding 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 win over Miomir Kecmanovic. The Spaniard dominated the clash, not allowing Kecmanovic a single break point opportunity over the course of the one-hour and 49-minute long encounter.
During his on-court interview, Jim Courier asked Carlos Alcaraz about his favorite players to watch on tour. The Spaniard was quick to name Daniil Medvedev, Novak Djokovic, and Jannik Sinner, praising them for consistently delivering a high level of tennis.
"Well, I'm a huge fan of tennis. I love to watch every match if I can but I love watching Daniil [Medvedev] for example, Novak [Djokovic], [Jannik] Sinner as well. I mean those guys, I like to watch, every time they step on the court, they put [their] best level. As a huge tennis fan, I like to watch pretty good tennis, high level, so those players or the best players in the world, I like to watch," Carlos Alcaraz replied.
Courier then inquired about the 20-year-old's favorite players on the WTA tour. Although he stated that he watched women's matches as well, he did not name any particular player.
"Well, I, I watch WTA as well," he said, invoking laughter from the crowd at Rod Laver Arena. "No, I mean, when I can obviously, I mean when I turn the TV on, if it's WTA, ATP, whatever, I like to watch," he added after failing to come up with a name.
While many tennis fans were amused by Carlos Alcaraz's answer, he did receive criticism for being unable to name a single women's player he enjoyed watching. The majority of the backlash was seen on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
Mark Petchey came to the World No. 2's defense, expressing frustration with the perspectives on the platform for lacking critical thinking and nuance. He emphasized that it was "blindingly obvious" why the 20-year-old refrained from naming any particular player, seemingly implying that doing so would trigger scrutiny of his relationship with that player.
Petchey also argued that such negative reactions contributed to players turning into "robots" during interviews instead of being authentic.
"One of the reasons I will be deleting this app the moment i am no longer wanted for commentary (am sure that day can’t come soon enough for some) is that there is zero critical thinking on here or nuance. It was so blindingly obvious why @carlosalcaraz didn’t want to put a name to who he watched on the WTA tour."
"I even said it after he had finished. You want to know why players become robots in interviews, it’s precisely to stop those type of situations occurring. Nothing will overshadow how fun that performance was to watch though," he posted on X.
Carlos Alcaraz to take on Alexander Zverev in Australian Open QF
Carlos Alcaraz will square off against Alexander Zverev for a place in the semifinals of the Australian Open. Zverev secured a hard-fought 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(3) win over Cameron Norrie to book his place against the World No. 2.
Zverev enjoys a 4-3 lead in his head-to-head record against Alcaraz, having defeated the Spaniard in their most recent encounter in the group stage of the 2023 ATP Finals.
Despite trailing in his head-to-head record against the German, the two-time Grand Slam champion asserted that he was improving with every match and was heading into the quarterfinal with confidence.
"I'm feeling better and better every day. I'm feeling better and better every match that I'm playing. (I'm) coming into the quarterfinal with a lot of confidence," he said in his post-match press conference.
Should Carlos Alcaraz emerge victorious against Alexander Zverev, he will take on the winner of the match between Daniil Medvedev and Hubert Hurkacz for a place in the Australian Open final.